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Custom Electric

Custom Electric is a large electrical contractor with a big network of connections to draw work from.  They have a competitive bidding process that allows them to bid on large and interesting jobs.
I worked at this company for many years and got an incredible amount of work experience through residential, commercial, and service.  
Any time I asked for more responsibility or a different avenue for experience they worked at helping me attain those goals.
The companies safety program is extraoridnarily deep with many trade professionals working on developing it and maintaining it including NCSO's.  I do believe they wanted everyone to go home safely at the end of each day.
I don't think everyone had the same experience as me, but every person is different and a company this size may not be able to cater to every single person and their own individual desires and goals.
The hardest part of this company was during down times, or "layoff" times nearing the end of jobs, working to stay off the "layoff" list was pretty stressful as most people had no idea where they stood in terms of employee reviews.  However if you keep your head down, work efficiently, and maintain a positive attitude, they will do their best to keep you employed as the cost of keeping an employee who is well trained is less than hiring and training a new one.
I really enjoyed a lot of the personalities on job sites, getting to know fellow crew was always a great time.  I got along with every foreman and superintendant I worked with as well, and although interactions with Project Managers was minimal, they were pleasant or politely ignored you.

I found they push guys like crazy. They try there best to do as much as they can with as little at they can. They trip over dollars to pick up pennies.

Having 40 guys in between two sites and having 2 harness on site and yelling at people for being up to high because Management doesn't want to make a call or go through the hassle of getting more.

If you get catch you'll get kicked off site they match it as a company policy. If you tell the safety supervisor you'll get told by the foreman "I never want to see you talking to safety again". Because they get there hands slap.

THEY ALWAYS LACK TOOLS AND MATERIALS!!

I found they push for all type of Overtime and if you don't work it they threaten to lay you off at the end of the job and most often they do even if you work that overtime and they ask you to do it at straight time and bank the hours which is not illegal because they make you sign a waiver before they will hire you. 

Now as an owner of a business. I feel is wrong and you should pay your guys what they are worth and that's 1.5 over 40 hours not 44 hours.

There is a buddy system here If you have family in management or a friend very few move up the ladder because of the buddy system.

The best part of working for them is the people around you. You'll be working with alot of great guys with good experience, you'll make friends and they are willing the teach you to do the job right.

In short I will never work for them again. There is very little future for you here. Unless you're new to the trade and you need experience or have family in management this will be only a stepping stone to a better future.

We are often not paid for overtime worked, often told to take time off instead ' to make up for it'. Terrible safety culture. Just one example is they say you are not supposed to work on any live electrity but management privately pushes you to work on live panels and circuits ' to save time'. 
They have no loyalty to long time employees. I have personally witnessed many of my loyal co- workers be let go after 5 ,10 or even 15 years of employment. Apprentices are often berated and literally yelled at for simple things like asking for water to be supplied. During safety meetings you are often reminded that you are all replaceable and they constantly remind you that they can easily let you go with no consequence to themselves. 
Many of the foremen are constantly grovelling to upper management in the hopes of getting more shares in the company. Sadly many of these same foremen literally hate management and constantly complain about it. Often these are the same ones who do the most  brown nosing ...lol.
On the positive side a lot of the lower level journeymen and lead hands are some of the nicest hardest working people and most knowledgeable Electricians I have ever met.Sadly many do not last as they quit or are replaced by cheap apprentice labor. Custom also has a few nice events like a golf tournament ,summer family day and an annual company party where they buy everyone some KFC.
Average day of work is pretty ok as long as you keep your head down and dont draw any attention to yourself.

I was privileged to be apart of the Custom Electric team for 11+ years! I started and completed my apprenticeship with Custom and gained an invaluable set of skills i never thought I'd get. Throughout the ups and downs of the economy, Custom always seems to find a way to stay on top and keep their core guys involved and employed. I'm proud to say i felt like i was apart of that group, that speaks volumes to management.

The workplace culture is excellent, the guys and girls in the field are great, the supervisors are approachable and know what they're doing, that being said, you are expected to preform. Days can be long, sometimes Saturdays and nights are required but that's the nature of the work we do. Safety is extremely important to Custom Electric and the most important thing is we go home to our families at the end of the day.

I was a proud Custom Electric employee for the time i was there and gained an invaluable set of skills i felt was second to none. Unfortunately my time came to an end with them as i was looking to advance my career and it couldn't be accommodated at the time, but i wouldn't hesitate to go back for a second if the right opportunity presented itself.

A typical day at work, arrive, sit around for usually 30 - 40 minutes, then go to shop and grab materials (alone and with little to no guidance on where things are) then once all materials are grabbed, basically cram them in all of their disgusting vans with no room, or get told to empty the van out and  reorganize it wasting another 1 hour or more. Didn't really learn anything aside from how to cut wire and hammer nails into wood (which everyone already knows) management was not very inclined on showing any real interest or care towards any employees no matter any situation even emergencies unless you manage to meet their standards and get to stay there for over a year. hardest part of the job was being yelled at for not getting enough done or working fast enough even though you have been working just as hard and even sometimes got twice as much done as the person yelling at you. the most enjoyable part of the job was getting off early constantly because majority of the employees and even management don't do anything except stand around after lunch.

Custom is a standard electrical company, nothing really outstanding other then it’s employee owned. BUT how to get shares is another thing, at orientation when I first started with custom I was told after five years you are eligible for shares, but no shares after TEN years. It appears to be random how they give shares out. Buddy system does exist within custom, but that’s the same for most companies. Safety is a big deal, but very repetitive and not really practical at times. Foreman’s are a hit and miss, some are very professional and some you really have to wonder how they got or keep their job. Training for safety or lifts/harness is a pain to get but very useful. Overall quality of work is slightly above average. Lots of hiring of outside hires for leadership position don’t know why they don’t train and guys who have started with custom Lots of layoffs but that goes with the construction market.  Benefits were basic, no vision. Pay is good.

This company does not in any way care about their employees. Even if you preform well that doesn't matter. They care more about personal relationships then good work. When layoffs started many good workers were shown the door in favor of worse preforming individuals simply because they were drinking buddies with the foreman. I was also asked to do many sketchy installations that didn't meet with electrical code and were dangerous. When I refused to do so I was black listed within the company. Our foreman would routinely install equipment on commercial sites that was faulty and ask us "to not tell anyone". As a whole very unprofessional company and is rife with abusive behavior in all levels of management. Make no mistake there are a few great foreman to work for that are amazing individuals but they are the exception and not the rule.

Don’t work here. Management would constantly harass me everyday (every 1-2 hours), with the fact that I was easily replaceable. I constantly was called stupid and asked to fight by management. It made every task I had to do difficult. Sure I worked harder but it made it very difficult to work since I was constantly worried about my job security. I watched management fire people and then laugh about how the person reacted after. My co workers were really great but were constantly receiving the same attitude as me and they all slowly left or got let go and I was the last one around. I was going to get Human Resources involved but I decided the company nor the management was worth my time. Pay was okay but you can get the same at another electrician company.

If you are not in with management, then your quality of work and attitude mean nothing. I worked there for well over ten years, and once I became a foreman, I hit an advancement wall. If you are not willing to spend all of your work time out of time (on a moment's notice) for prolonged periods of time, then you will be severely limited in advancement. The management shows no discretion when discussing employees with their peers. If you willing to always be out of town, then your quality of work or attitude mean nothing - you will be treated favorably. This is not a good place to work for people with families. They have residential, commercial and industrial divisions. Upper management favors commercial heavily and does not take concerns of those from industrial or residential seriously.

Working here was not a positive experience. They push guys like crazy well beyond what is allowed under OH&S and AIT standards. It is not uncommon for a 1st-year apprentice to given a van or a truck and given the responsibility of a journeyman even though this is not allowed by AIT. On industrial oil and gas sites, safety is often sacrificed for the sake of saving the company (Custom) money. On commercial sites, you are forced into signing a banked overtime agreement. I worked in areas that were not well ventilated and was never given the proper safety equipment or training to perform my task safely. There were times when I had to watch my paycheque because they had billed the client over-time but paid me straight time.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Electrician 5 salaries reported	$31.04 per hour
Journeyperson electrician 1 salary reported	$30.19 per hour
Apprentice electrician 3 salaries reported	$19.47 per hour
Safety officer 2 salaries reported	$35.75 per hour
Loader 1 salary reported	$22.50 per hour

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